Groceteria.com

This site may be a time capsule all of its own.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/socalretail/2258285077/

Not only does the outside look very much like it did in the Alpha Beta era... so does the inside.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/socalretail/2258287163/

Highly recommended for any Alpha Beta fan. This place is clean, neat, and appears relatively untouched since ... well, you tell me.

More pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/socalretai ... 040852236/

This Ralphs store opened as Alpha Beta in 1961 as part of North Whittier Heights Shopping Center (search La Puente in mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com for a photo-postcard). It is obvious from the exterior architecture. It is now called Pacific Place Shopping Center. North Whittier Heights is the pre-1961 era name for the unincorporated communities in the western part of La Puente Valley (Hacienda Heights, Bassett, Whittier Woods, Avocado Heights, Hillgrove). The store is at the corner of Workman Mill and Lomitas Dr (north of the 60/605 junction) and some of the businesses (may even include Ralphs) use Bassett or Whittier as their city in their address, since the dividing line between unincorporated Bassett and Avocado Heights (which people call "Whittier").

luckysaver

Correction, the store is at the corner of Workman Mill and Don Julian.

I see this store open for a long time still, since its the only market in the area, and seems to do decent business. Ralphs closed another former Alpha-Beta location that was on Gale Ave and Turnbull Canyon a few years back.

Try http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007 ... enter.html

Nice photo postcard.

This site at one point did not allow the carts to be removed from the store. I guess too many were disappearing.

For quite some time...there was fencing around the entrance. You had to load the groceries from the "loading area"! The employees that took the groceries to the car...probably had the ability to open a gate to get the cart out. Yet, the customers could not do so themselves.

I wouldn't doubt if you can still see in the concrete where the posts used to be!

As Jeff mentioned, the Turnbull Canyon/Gale site not too far away is the same style. After Ralphs, it became Payless Foods, and now Friscos.

The Azusa Avenue/Valley Boulevard Alpha-Beta is the same as well. Was JAX for years...think it is something else now.

Azusa / Valley was renamed Bodega Bay Market for many years after JAX. I dont know if its still Bodega Bay..

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